Conductive contact structures for electrostatic discharge protection in integrated circuits

Abstract

Disclosed herein are structures, devices, and methods for electrostatic discharge protection (ESDP) in integrated circuits (ICs). In some embodiments, an IC component may include a conductive contact structure that includes a first contact element and a second contact element. The first contact element may be exposed at a face of the IC component, the first contact element may be between the face of the IC component and the second contact element, the second contact element may be spaced apart from the first contact element by a gap, and the second contact element may be in electrical contact with an electrical pathway in the IC component.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An integrated circuit (IC) component, comprising:
 a conductive contact structure, including:
 a first contact element; and 
 a second contact element, wherein:
 the first contact element is exposed at a face of the IC component, 
 the first contact element is between the face of the IC component and the second contact element, 
 the second contact element is spaced apart from the first contact element by a gap, 
 the second contact element is in electrical contact with an electrical pathway in the IC component, and 
 the first contact element is deformable to contact the second contact element. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the first contact element is a land grid array (LGA) contact. 
     
     
       3. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the gap includes air. 
     
     
       4. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the first contact element is a cantilevered contact element. 
     
     
       5. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of a face of the second contact element is exposed through an opening in the first contact element. 
     
     
       6. The IC component of  claim 5 , wherein the first contact element is a ball grid array (BGA) contact. 
     
     
       7. The IC component of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an organic dielectric material proximate to the electrical pathway. 
 
     
     
       8. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the gap includes a dielectric material. 
     
     
       9. The IC component of  claim 8 , wherein the dielectric material is an organic material. 
     
     
       10. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the first contact element includes gold. 
     
     
       11. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the first contact element is reversibly deformable. 
     
     
       12. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the IC component is a package substrate or an interposer. 
     
     
       13. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the gap includes pressure sensitive material that is conductive under pressure. 
     
     
       14. The IC component of  claim 1 , wherein the first contact element is deformable by bending through the gap.